Wizard of Oz

By Cadie Walsh, "Ms. Donnally gave my friend Layne and I the opportunity to be assistant directors. Our jobs included managing crew members, building sets, and pretty much anything that Ms. Donnally didn't feel like doing herself. Several of my friends were part of the cast, and it was fun hanging out with people like Eisley, Kat, and Sage. Dad helped with special effects like fire, smoke, and wind. Without him, the show wouldn't have been been as engaging to the audience. My main job was running the projections that were on the backdrop, and sides of the theatre. Ranger was on the crew and it was a good sibling bonding experience for us. I decided to appoint Ranger assistant to the student director. After the show on Saturday, we hosted a small get together, and some of my friends came over. Olivia, Peyton, Emma, Sage, Eisley, Khloe, and Arden all stopped by at some point during the evening. Overall the show had lots of ups and downs, but it was a good way to make friends and get closer to Ranger."

I loved that Cadie and Ranger got to be in the crew together! Since Cadie was the Assistant Director, we had fun called Ranger the "Assistant to the Assistant Director." Ranger said he felt like there was a bit too much sitting around on the crew, but he did like it when his friends watched the play and noticed that he did a ton of the scene changes and they said he "carried" the crew. I hope someday that he will be in a play, but glad he dipped his toe in the water with crew.

I had a revision surgery on Thursday, and the play opened Thursday night. It made for a bit of a crazy weekend, but I was able to make it to the play on Saturday evening. DD and Big John took Colton to see it Thursday evening because he went to UP All Night on Saturday with Dan and Luke. On Saturday evening, Anna Crumpler (Youth minister), Joy, Nina & Papa, Preston, Hannah, Parker, and Eisley all came to cheer on Cadie and Ranger. It was such a great musical! I was especially impressed with the projections that even went onto the walls on the sides of the theater.

I had volunteered to chair the cast party which was scheduled for the Saturday after the play, April 29th. However, my grandfather passed away the week before and his funeral was on April 29th. Grant went to represent our family and it sounds like the Studio Movie Grill event with a special showing of The Wizard of Oz was a hit.

So proud of Cadie and Ranger!

Show recap note from the parent chairs, "From the bottom of our hearts--- we cannot let the day end without saying this show wouldn't have happened without your help and support. We surpassed all our projections on ticket sales, concession and fan mail. The crew and cast performed amazingly well and even Derby (live Toto) got in the spirit of the show and sang.

Thank you all for helping make OUR kids shine. Whether front stage or back stage its all about them. Thank you for following us down the yellow brick road.  Pics to come from our amazing photographer Carla.

Rachel and Margarita"

Easter in Cozumel

"the trip to Cozumel was great right when we got to the hotel i saw the hot tub on the belconie an i hoped right in ... with out the water because we went right to the lobster house the next day my Family went scuba diving but i was not old enough but the next day was different i got to go diving with my dad  the next day was the last one i was sad to leave but we had to"

~ Colton  

On the drive home from Colorado for Spring Break Grant and I were chatting about what a great trip it was, but that it was cold and we kinda missed the beach. And so the idea of Easter at the beach was born! Plus, since Cadie was in KC for Spring break, we were interested in a family trip that included all of us. As always, Grant did all the research and booked us a great trip at the Fiesta Americana, which was an all-inclusive near the best dive sites. While we probably didn't get full advantage of the all-inclusive since we ate two nights at the Lobster House, we really enjoyed breakfast room service delivered right before our dives on Saturday and Sunday.

Because I didn't want the kids to miss all their normal Easter traditions, I did an egg hunt and Easter gifts on the Thursday morning before we left. Then, we saw Aida on Thursday evening, with Arden, Cadie's friend, and then headed to Cozumel Friday morning. We were grateful that Grant was able to move our tickets for Aida from Saturday evening to Thursday evening so we didn't have to miss the show. 

On Friday, we landed in Cozumel, got our rental car, and then checked into the hotel. The boys and I played at the pool by ocean while Cadie and Grant went on a hunt for a mouthpiece that would work with her braces. I loved watching the sunset over the ocean with the boys and Colton and I even did a short ocean swim. Grant and Cadie found a mouthpiece that worked and then we ate for our first dinner on the island at Lobster House. Ranger was so tired that he fell sound asleep with his head on the table of The Lobster House. Looks like we have a growing boy on our hands. We stopped in town on the way home, and got churros and art. There was a little art festival and I found 3 pieces from a local artist that I loved and plan to hang them at the farm. The are lovely open watercolors.

We did two dives Saturday morning and two dives Sunday morning. Colton was a trooper and he came in the boat with us and either snorkeled or just waited happily. He liked laying on the edge of the boat and looking out at the water. The big kids did great diving and it was fun to do it all together as a family. After the dives on Saturday, we stopped by a small cenote and rinsed off, which was fun. On Sunday afternoon we drove to Rastas and ate the best ceviche. Then, we met Rudy at the Weston where he did a bubble-maker dive with Colton. We ate Sunday evening with Rudy at The Lobster house and had a fun time swapping dive stories and learning more about his background. He was raised in France and hopes to open his own drive shop in Cozumel. 

On Monday we hung out at the hotel, I got a complimentary hour massage, we swam, and then got packed up and headed to the airport. All the travel went so smoothly and it was a wonderful getaway. He is risen, he is risen indeed!

Sky Ranch Mother Daughter Weekend

Cadie has wanted to know to mother daughter weekend at Sky Ranch for a few years and the recommended ages are 6-15. Since she is about to age out, I felt like it was finally time to take her. I picked her up early from school on Friday and we hit a HUGE rainstorm on the way to the farm. We got to the farm right in time for my 3pm work call that I had to take due to a big go-live on Monday. I was able to take the call and then we hopped back in the car and made it to Sky for dinner at 6:30pm. 

We didn't know anyone else at the retreat, but everyone was really nice and Cadie and I had a wonderful time just being together. On Saturday evening we had a special time at the adorable Garden Party and then watching the sunset over the lake and listening to the full soundtrack of Aida to get ready for watching the musical in a few weeks. Cadie made me sleep in the top bunk, but I slept surprisingly well and I think my mattress might have been new because it was comfortable. 

I am so grateful that I get to be mom to this not-so-baby baby girl. She is smart, independent, silly, loyal, and I can't wait to see where God leads her. The day she was born was a dream come true and she just keeps getting better!

Spring Break at Keystone

I owe a huge thanks to Lori Winters and her brother Jeff Paschal for letting us rent their awesome Keystone townhouse for Spring Break. It was 3 bed, 2 bath with lots of great living space and super close to the slopes. We ended up driving to the mountain all but one day because it was easier than waiting on the shuttle. I broke a chair on day 1 at the townhouse, but luckily Grant was able to repair it and I think it is stronger than ever.

Dan and Luke were kind to squeeze in 2 days with us in between their trips to New York and Florida. We were the icing of their Spring Break Oreo. The Cherkassky boys got into town late Tuesday night and left Friday morning and we made the most of 2 days skiing, tunneling in the snow, watching basketball, and hanging out. 

Luke said his favorite was skiing, specifically with Colton on the trails and racing against Ranger. He also had fun digging tunnels in the snow outside our condo. Colton said his favorite was also building snow forts with Luke and Ranger and also going through the ski trails with Luke.

We were also able to connect for one day of skiing with Dan, Henry, and Lydia Westcott. They came over to Keystone and we met at the top at the ice fort and were able to get lunch together and then skit a few runs in the afternoon. 

On Thursday I slipped away to go meet a few friends from my book club at Sweet Basil in Vail. We had so much fun! Maryann, Erin Geary, Jane, and Leah were all able to slip away from their family ski trips for an afternoon of laughs and great food. And Maryann almost bought a puppy!

We missed Cadie, but she was having a fabulous time in Kansas City with Aunt Kathy and Grandma Margaret and Grandpa Weldon. My Mom and Dad were there for a few days too and here is what my Mom texted me, "Know you must really miss your daughter this week. But I believe she in in the exact right place now. She is having such a good time getting to know her great grandparents and collecting more books. Kathy, Cadence, Ron and I went to dinner last night and had such a special time together. Then we went to see Margaret and Weldon again it was a very special time. Weldon was very engaged and your daughter was delightful. We laughed and just had such a good time together. I have never seen her more excited to do anything like she loves these books. We might be looking at a future librarian. And she's so happy. Makes my heart sing to see her engage with her great grandparents and enjoy herself so much. Hope you're having as much fun as she is, we love you."

On our last evening we went to the Silverthorne rec center and it was so fun! We would definitely go back. It had a water slide, climbing wall that could could climb and then fall into the pool, hot tub and 3 different types of pools. Dan told us about it and I can't believe we didn't know about it before.

Of course, we stopped in Amarillo on the way home and had dinner at the Big Texan. It was packed, but our hotel was right next door so we were able to walk back over when it was almost our turn. We listened to the "Project Hail Mary" audiobook on the way home and Colton was especially enthralled.